Global Polypropylene product markets to shift to Asia and Middle East

28-May-08

The importance of Western Europe and North America as exporters of polypropylene products will continue to weaken in the face of competition from Asia and the Middle East, according to a market report by Ceresana Research. The report predicts that within five years, manufacturing capacities in China and India will expand by more than 7.5m tons, and will more than double in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. Worldwide capacity that is currently at 45 mln tons will increase considerably over the next few years and PP revenues will more than double by 2016, due to higher prices and greater sales volumes. In order to participate in this growth, PP manufacturers in Western Europe, the United States and Canada will need to develop innovative products and improve efficiency of production through better manufacturing methods, expanded distribution networks, a greater range of services for customers and closer co-operation with the manufacturing industry. In 2007, the global market for polypropylene (PP) had a volume of 45.1 mln tons, turnover of US$65 bln mostly in Asia, followed by Europe and North America.